“Not intentionally, I believe,” he said. “Tell me about your family. Your interests. Tell me everything about you,” he said as he leaned back, folded his arms across his chest, and stretched his long legs out as if settling in for a long conversation.
She hoped she wouldn’t disappoint him. There really was not over much to tell of her sheltered life of seventeen summers.
“I have three younger siblings, my lord. My sister, Alice, is fifteen summers and thankfully not yet out into society, and I have twin brothers who are twelve summers.”
“Twins? And why do you say your sister should not yet be out?”
“My sister has a very different temperament than me, my lord. She is very bold and confident.”
“I would consider you to be bold and confident, considering youhave dined alone with me this evening. You do not appear to be suffering from nerves.”
If he only knew the half of it.
“I mean to say that she is more confident in what to say in certain situations.”
“Like what?”
Why was he so interested in Marion’s sister all of a sudden? Maybe he was looking for a confident wife. Marion didn’t consider herself that at all and grew a little wary of his questions.
“My sister would not have waited to be asked to a dinner with a fine gentleman. She would ask him.” Marion hoped that was a sufficient example for him.
“And you think me a fine gentleman?” he asked with a seemingly genuine smile.
“Aye, I have told you that others have referred to you as honorable.” She paused and made a choice to be bold for once. “Are you trying to tell me that you are not?”
He unfolded his arm and leaned closer to her. “Are you aware that everything you say has a double meaning to it?” he asked. “I cannot tell if you know of the effect your words have on me.”
Effect? What in the world was he talking about?
“My lord, I believe you should maybe retire, for I think your mind has become more muddled than you realized earlier. My words are not meant to be taken in any way other than how delivered. What else could I possibly mean by them?”
She truly did not know what he meant.
“Are you telling me you don’t want me to kiss you?” he whispered mere inches from her face.
Marion’s breath caught in her throat. How could he decipher that from her comments? She thought for a moment and then realized what he was saying. Did she want him to kiss her? Of course she did, but as a lady, she was not about to invite him.
“I—never said—”
A heartbeat later, his hand cupped the back of her head, and his lips closed over hers. Warm and sweet like the mead and ale he’d recently finished, his lips played with hers, making her blood pound in her ears and her nipples harden. He shifted closer and deepened the kiss, coaxing her mouth open to accept him. In that moment, as he tasted her, she knew what it was to connect with someone on a level she never knew existed. His tongue touched hers, causing her woman’s core to tighten and release in the most delicious sensation. Marion reached for him, placing her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. She wanted to taste more of him, and when she circled her tongue around his, he groaned deep in his throat, sending shivers through her. Her entire body was so finely in tune with his, she was sure they were now one body.
Marion let one hand slide down from his neck to his chest, adoring the curve and thickness of the muscle beneath his tunic. He broke the kiss then and stared hard into her eyes.
“You do not kiss like a maiden,” he whispered.
The comment was like cold water doused over her. She sat back abruptly, her fingers touching her lips as if he had burned her.
“I am a maiden, my lord. And you have taken advantage of me,” she whispered and stood so she could place the bench between them. “You have worked some kind of magic on me, and now you want to blame me for it.”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. He was the one reading into her words to serve his lust. Well, he would work no more of his sorcery on her. Marion turned on her heel and made for the door.
“Lady Marion, do not leave, please,” he said, his voice nearly hoarse. “I did not mean to offend you.
But it was too late. She was offended by his comment and mortified by the wanton behavior she had displayed despite promisingherself she would not act on her own growing desires.
She turned to see him with his head down in his hands, his arms leaning on his knees. A moment of something close to empathy washed over her, but her anger won out.
“I thank you for your company this evening, my lord, and I bid thee good night.”
